The nature of the luminous X-ray emission of NGC 6240

We briefly review and extend our discussion of the ROSAT detection of the extraordinarily luminous (> 10^{42} erg/s) partly extended (> 30 kpc diameter) X-ray emission from the ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240. The `standard’-model of starburst outflow is contrasted with alternatives and a comparison with the X-ray properties of ellipticals is performed.